Street-indicator



w. L. CLARKE, JR; STREET INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1929-1,898,771. Patented Nov, 29, 1921.,

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WITNESSES "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LEE CLARKE, JR, 013 TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR, 0F ONE-HALFTo JOHN A. GRANT, OF TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA.

STREET-INDICATOR.

Application filed January 31, 1920. Serial No. 355,363.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I WILLIAM LEE CLARK Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Tallahassee, in the county of Leon and Stateof Florida, have invented certa n new and useful Improvements inStreet-Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to changeable exhibitors and more particularly to astreet indicator adapted ,for use on the cars of an electric railway.

A purpose of my invention is the provision of a street indicator whichis operable by the controller lever of a car so that the motorman duringmanipulation of the controller as the car is passing from one street toanother will automatically actuate the indicator to appraise thepassengers of the name or number of the next street in advance andbefore the car has. reached such street.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide an indicator of theabove described character which can be controlled at will by themotorman independently of the controller'lever so that when a street caris traversing a congested district whereln a constant manipulation ofthe controller lever is necessary, or when it'is prearranged that a carstop only at certain corners during its trip, the indicator is'operatedonly at such times as to indicate the streets at which the car actuallystops.

I will describe one form of indicator and one form of controlling means,each embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel featuresthereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view showing in side elevation one form of indicatorembodying my invention, the casing for such indicator being shown insection.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a 'view showing in front elevation the indicator casing shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary detailed view of a portion of the belt shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partly 1n section showing the manualoperable means for manipulating one of the feed rollers.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing one form of controlling means forthe actuating means and the. circuits comprised in such means. 1

Specification of Letters Patent. P ytented N 29 1921 Similar referencecharacters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1, 2and 3, A designates a casing of suitable form which is provided at itsforward end with an opening a window W havand on which is mounted ortion15 and transluing a transparent cent portions 16. s shown in Fig. 3,portions 16 are provided with suitable indicia so that when the name ornumber of.the street appears within the rear of the portion 15, thepassengers of a car are apprised of the next street at which the car isto stop.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a frame F is arranged within the casing A,such frame being preferably of rectangular formation and havingjournaled therein at points adjacent its four corners, feed rollers R,R, R. and R As shown in Fig. 2, the rollers R, R, etc., are disposed inhorizontal planes and are provided adjacent their opposite ends with acircular'series of radially extending teeth T which are designed to workwithin squared perforations P formed at intervals in the marginal edgesof the endless belt B. As shown in Fig;l 1, the belt B is trained aboutthe rollers R, etc., in such manner that the forward stretch of the sameis disposed in the rear of and parallel to the window W. As shown inFig. 4, the outer-side of the belt B has imprinted thereon the names ornumbers of the several streets at which a' particular car is adapted tostop during a trip, and these names and numbers are adapted tosuccessively appear in the rear of the transparent portion 15 byintermittently moving the belt predetermined distances in the samedirection. This movement of the belt B is effected through an actuatingmechanism which comprises a ratchet wheel L fixed to the shaft of theroller R as shown in Fig. 1, a lever E fulcrumed on the roller shaftintermediate its ends, and a pawl D pivoted to the lever and adapted toengage the ratchet wheel for partially rotating the same when the leveris rocked. As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the lever E is biased to aposition wherein the pawl D is disposed above the axis of the roller Rby means of a spring S. The opposite end of the lever E is provided witha rod G which constitutes the core of a solenoid H.

By this arrangement, it will be seen that with the solenoid Hdeenergized, the lever E occupies the position shown in Fig. 6 under theaction of the spring S. However, when the solenoid H is energized therod G is drawn downwardly thus rocking the lever against the tension ofthe spring S and causing the pawl D to move downwardly. As the pawl Dmoves downwardly, it engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel L andthereby partially-rotates the roller R to effect a feeding of the beltB. It will be understood that the movement of the pawl. D is such thatthe belt B is moved a distance corresponding to the space between anytwo numbers or names of a street so that with each movement of the belta different number or name appears within the portion 15 of the windowW. It will be also understood that when the solenoid H is deenergizedthe lever E moves to'its normal position under the action of the springS so that when the magnet is again energizeda similar movement ofthebelt B is effected:

Referring now to Fig. 7, it will be seen that the solenoid H is providedwith a circuit the terminals of which are connected across the mains Mof the lamp circuit of a car so that the current for illuminating the'lamps is also utilized to energize the solenoid. This circuit for thesolenoid H is adapted to be controlled by the controller lever K of acontroller K. As shown in Fig. 7, the lever K swings about the point 17as a center and over the controller box in. the usual manner. Disposedwithin the path of movement of the lever K is a contact N whichconstitutes one terminal of the solenoid circuit. The otherterminal ofthe solenoid circuit is the lever K, so that when the lever engages thecontact N during its movement from the normal position, as shown in Fig.7 the solenoid H is energized through the following circuit: from thepositive main of the lamp circuit through wire 18, winding of solenoidH, wire 19, contact N, contact N. on the lever K, and wire 20, andswitch V to the negative side of the lamp circuit through wire 21. Itwill be noted that the contact N is disposed at such a point within thepath of movement of the lever K that it is engaged by the contact N toclose the circuit for the solenoid when the lever is adjacent itshighest point within the are or at that point at which the max- -imumpower is applied to the motors of the car.

As above noted, the circuit for the solenoid H is also controlled by theswitch V which is adapted to be arranged upon the controller lever K.The switch V controls the circuit for the solenoid that'in the closedposition of the switch the solenoid H is energized only when the contactN engages the contact N. In the open position of the switch V thesolenoid H cannot be energized when the contact- N engages the contact Nbecause the circuit is disrupted by the switch. This switch is designedto prevent the unintentional closing of the solenoid circuit by thelever K when the car is traveling through a congested district in whicha constant manipulation of the lever is necessary as the car passes fromstreet to street.

In order that the solenoid H may be energized at the will of themotorman and independently of the controller K, I have provided a buttonswitch V which is adapted to be arranged at a convenient point formanipulation by the motorman so.that he can actuate the indicator whenit is prearranged that the carstop only at certain corners during atrip. The switch V' controls the circuit for the solenoid H throughwires 23 and 24 which are connected to the wires 19 and 21,respectively, so that the switch is in parallel with the switch V, thusthe circuit for the solenoid may be closed irrespective of the positionof the switch V or the controller lever K.

As shown in Fig. 5, the feed roller R is provided with a squaredextension 25 that projects exteriorlyof the casing A and provides a headfor a crank 26 so that by rotation of the crank a rotation of the rollerR is effected. The purpose of this manual rotation of the roller R is toeffect the manual adjustment of the belt B so that if for any reason itis desired to display the name or number of aparticular street, theadjustment of the belt accordingly can be readily made.

As shown in Fig. 1, I provide an auxiliary feed roller R which isadjustable toward and away from the other feed rollers so that thelatter 'will accommodate a belt B which is greater in length than thetotal distance between the several rollers. The adjustment of the rollerR is obtained by mounting the stub shafts thereof within slots 27 formedin the opposite sides of the casingA, suitable means (not shown) beingprovided for locking the roller at any point within the length of theseslots. WVith a belt B trained around the roller R, as

shown in dash lines in Fig. 1, it is obvious.

that by adjustin the roller toward or away from the frame F, the beltwill be caused to engage the surfaces of the roller with suflicientfriction to effect the feeding of the belt when the roller R is rotatedby the actuating mechanism.

From the foregoing descrilptionytaken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it will be manifest that I have provided a streetindicator of simple and efficient construction which is capable of'beingoperated automatically through the medium of the control lever of a caror at will by the motorman through the button switch, so that the propercontrol of the indicator can be had to meet the most varying conditionsin the movementof a car and at the same time accurately indicate thenames-or numbers of the streets at which the car stops.

scope of the appended claim.

i What I claim is:

In combination, a street indicator comprising magnetic means foractuating the indicator, a controller including a casing and a lever, acontact on. the casing disposed in the path of movement of the lever, acontact on the lever adapted to engage the casing contact and coactingtherewith to form aswitch, a switch on the lever,- a circuit includingsaid magnetic means and said switches, and a third switch connected inparallel in said circuit with the first two switches and in such mannerthat said switch can control the circuit independently of the first twoswitches.

WM. LEE CLARKE, JR.

